


Monochrome

by Miphan



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Gen, natsume week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-05-31 17:59:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19431196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miphan/pseuds/Miphan
Summary: monochrome (adj.)consisting of or displaying images in black and white or in varying tones of only one colour





	Monochrome

In human culture, regarding the remembrance of a relative who has passed away, mementos are always a must. Significant possessions, family albums, videos, awards and every other trinket that leads to an important moment of their life are to be handled with absolute care and shown to the next generation as an irreplaceable part of the family's history.

Life has granted no such luxury to Natsume Takashi. His mother is only a woman who gave her life to bring him to this world. His father is a blur of gentleness, warmth and flowers in a garden. The thought of them doesn't bother him. Not anymore. Slowly but surely Touko-san and Shigeru-san have taken the role of parental figures in his life. He may not address them as such, but in his heart they have succeeded in fulfilling that emptiness.

His grandmother, however, is another matter entirely. Natsume Reiko is a puzzle. A puzzle of a thousand pieces, hidden in the memories of creatures that are most likely not to harbor good intentions. The key to those memories is in his hands, always on his person, and like a treasure of mythical riches yokai yearn for it for various reasons.

In their memories, Natsume Reiko waltzes through life like a solo dancer that sees only the stage and not the audience around her. Even when she reaches out, it's only in body, but seldom, if not never in soul. Her connections with humans and yokai alike are temporary instances. She shows no care of the rumors humans spread about her, pays no mind to the way yokai learn to fear her, shows no indication that her world is largely doused in nothing but monochrome.

The ability – or rather disability – to see colors only in yokai is a power that Takashi has inevitably inherited. According to Nyanko-sensei, it's a price that comes with outstanding spiritual powers and not a curse or spell maliciously cast upon him.

When he was young, he used to hate it. He used to abhor those creatures whose existence differentiated him from everybody else, but ultimately were his only door to the world of color. No matter how hard he tried to stay away, his eyes would always stray to the vibrant hues of every yokai no matter how scared he was upon their arrival.

It has been almost a year since the situation changed. The colors, although their origin hasn't changed, hold a different meaning now. From Nyanko-sensei's vibrant orange to Misuzu's lavender, they all spell loyalty, companionship, a family that sees and understands the secret side of him. It is nice to have them as examples when Nyanko-sensei begrudgingly tries to give color to the monochrome world he sees.

_The morning sky is much lighter than Hinoe's hair. The trees are as green as a kappa's skin. Touko-san is wearing Benio's colors today._

At nights when nightmares keep him awake and haunted by events that are not his own, he wonders if his grandmother had someone like sensei by her side. Maybe in the pieces he has yet to gather, there is someone she could always turn to, someone who could reveal to her how everyone else saw the world.

There's no indication of that though. In every memory Takashi has seen, Reiko never asks, is never curious about the colors she cannot see. Perhaps, she was used to it that way and didn't want to change the world only meant for her eyes.

But Takashi isn't like that. His soul is torn between two worlds, eternally tied together. And even if it's only through a yokai's eyes, he will strive to experience the best of both of them.


End file.
